''Prisoner of Ice'' (also ''Call of Cthulhu: Prisoner of Ice'') is an adventure game developed and released by Infogrames Multimedia for

IBM PC compatible IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM Personal Computer, IBM PC, IBM Personal Computer XT, XT, and IBM Personal Computer/AT, AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such ...

s and

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...

in 1995 in America and Europe. It is based on H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, particularly ''

At the Mountains of Madness ''At the Mountains of Madness'' is a science fiction-horror novella by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in February/March 1931 and rejected that year by ''Weird Tales'' editor Farnsworth Wright on the grounds of its length. It was or ...

'', and is a follow-up to Infogrames' earlier '' Shadow of the Comet''. In 1997, the game was ported to the Sega Saturn and PlayStation exclusively in Japan.

Plot

''Prisoner of Ice'' begins during the run-up to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, primarily around Antarctica. The main character is a young U.S. intelligence officer, Lt. Ryan, who has been assigned to a British submarine, HMS ''Victoria'', for a special mission. As the game begins, the submarine is fleeing the Antarctic after rescuing a Norwegian who has recently escaped from a secret German base in the Antarctic (it is later revealed that the base is built atop the Ancient Ruins mentioned in ''

''). Along with the Norwegian, the sub has picked up two mysterious cargo crates stolen from the Nazis. Late in the game, in Argentina, Ryan meets John Parker, the central character from '' Shadow of the Comet'', and reveals the links between the two games. Narackamous, the main antagonist of '' Shadow of the Comet'', also returns. The game has a choice of two endings, though there is little difference between them.

Gameplay

The game involves solving puzzles through a

point and click Point and click are the actions of a computer user moving a pointer to a certain location on a screen (''pointing'') and then pressing a button on a mouse, usually the left button (''click''), or other pointing device. An example of point and cl ...

user interface. The player can examine any item and, depending on the item, either pick it up, use another item on it, or operate it in some way. Some puzzles, if not completed within a short span of time (always less than a minute), will result in a game over. To ensure that the player does not get stuck by saving their game at a point from which they cannot possibly complete a puzzle in time, the game

autosave Autosave is a saving function in many computer applications and video games which automatically saves the current changes or progress in the program or game, intending to prevent data loss should the user be otherwise prevented from doing so manua ...

s onto a separate save file at the beginning of each timed puzzle.

Release

The game was released for

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...

compatible operating systems, Microsoft Windows, and

. It was published in the US in 1995 by I Motion and in Europe in 1995. In PAL territories it was titled ''Call of Cthulhu: Prisoner of Ice''. Three French-language comic books were published as tie-ins to the game: ''La Geôle de Pandore'' (''Pandora's Jail''), ''Le Glaive du Crépuscule'' (The Dagger in the Dusk) and ''La Cité des Abîmes'' (''The City of the Depths''). In Japan, the game was released in 1997 by Xing Entertainment as ''Prisoner of Ice: Jashin Kourin'', and ported to the Sega Saturn and

Sony PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divi ...

game consoles. These ports contain no enhancements from the PC versions. The English voice acting of the PC version is retained, but the text which appears when examining or picking up objects is translated to Japanese. The Saturn version is compatible with the Netlink Mouse. In 2015, ''Prisoner of Ice'' and ''Shadow of the Comet'' were re-released as

DRM DRM may refer to: Government, military and politics * Defense reform movement, U.S. campaign inspired by Col. John Boyd * Democratic Republic of Madagascar, a former socialist state (1975–1992) on Madagascar * Direction du renseignement milita ...

-free on

GOG.com GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) is a digital distribution platform for video games and films. It is operated by GOG sp. z o.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt based in Warsaw, Poland. GOG.com delivers DRM-free video games through it ...

for modern computers.

Reception

According to the French newspaper '' Les Échos'', ''Prisoner of Ice'' was commercially successful. Its sales surpassed 30,000 units in the United States alone during its first day of release. A reviewer for '' Next Generation'' gave the PC version three out of five stars, praising the gripping storyline, beautiful animation, and eerie atmosphere, but criticized the "emotionless" voice acting. He concluded, "It's worth checking out for the great storyline and art, but not good for much else."

References

External links